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You have to learn to let go. The idea that books, magazines, databases or any form of information source can and should be kept for perpetuity is laughable. Items in a library need to be weeded and space is the major reason why. I know all of you want to keep your precious books, and I do to. But who’s going to pay for it, you?... — the other me

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October 1, 2008

U. of Indianapolis Becomes Latest Victim of Hacking

A hacker gained access to 11,000 archived records that contained the names and Social Security numbers of students, professors, and staff members at the University of Indianapolis, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Join the club. Every month, it seems, another university has a data-breach incident. This year, it has happened to universities big and small, including at the University of Texas at Austin, Sonoma State University, and Arapahoe Community College. Often, it is the information of students that is leaked, rather than that of professors or administrators. At Arapahoe, for instance, a flash drive containing credit-card numbers, names, addresses, and Social Security numbers of some 15,000 current and former students went missing or was stolen.

At the University of Indianapolis, data on a broad range of people at the university was compromised — even the personal information of the university’s president, Beverley J. Pitts. While it’s unfortunate that Ms. Pitts’s information is now in the hands of hackers, maybe it will serve as the wake-up call universities need. If administrators were consistently among the victims every time a university was hacked, perhaps more energy would be spent to ensure everyone’s personal information is as secure as possible. It would be nice if in the future these incidents did come as a surprise. —David DeBolt

Comments

1. In other words, university administrators are irresponsible doofi who don’t care about anything unless it affects them personally?

   OK, I’ll pass that around.

   — June Dania Quayle    Oct 1, 05:44 PM    #

2. It is appalling how often personally identifying information is compromised universities. Equally appalling is the insinuation by Mr. DeBolt that universities don’t put enough energy into preventing these breaches because only student data is involved.

   If Mr. Debolt actually did some research he would find that protecting student data is of equal or higher importance at most universities.

   — Chris Michels    Oct 1, 05:58 PM    #

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